Natural history museum celebrating biodiversity with a parade of taxidermy animals.

Known as the "Dodo Manège," this carousel features a herd of animals that have disappeared—or may be gone soon.

The first green space constructed on an elevated viaduct.

The ruins of a Duke's bucolic dream, where camels once roamed alongside "Dutch" windmills and faux-Italian vineyards.

This recessed garden protects thousands of mountain plants by creating its own microclimates.

This bridge was constructed from the rubble of the infamous Bastille.

A 16th-century fountain marks the site of a lost medieval cemetery once filled with mass graves.

The water-powered carriages are long gone, but for over a century this funicular railway has been the fastest route to the highest point in Paris.

A horde of stray cats rule in this secluded Parisian cemetery under a bridge.

A traveling postal dog covered 48 states and more than 140,000 miles, and he lives on as taxidermy, patched up with a rabbit's foot and a pig's ear.

The preamble to the U.S. Constitution written entirely from vanity license plates hangs in the Smithsonian museum.

There's a 12-foot-tall replica of the Washington Monument hidden under a manhole nearby.

During the Industrial Revolution this “Temple of Invention” was full of intricate miniature machines and gadgets.

The first memorial dedicated solely to the Black troops who fought for the Union.

This imposing Masonic temple a mile from the White House was the first public library in Washington, D.C.

A bas relief commemorates the "Nuns of the Battlefield" who cared for soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

Fittingly, America's museum of architecture is itself a magnificently designed old building.

Home to a vast and influential collection of Shakespeareana.

A secret greenspace hides atop a Capitol parking garage.

A museum cafe showcases Native American dishes and indigenous ingredients from across the Western Hemisphere.

An echo chamber with a waterfall wrapped around its base at the Embassy of Canada in Washington, D.C.

Perhaps the most scandalous statue of America's first president.

A line of blue paint marks the route of the inaugural parade.

The innocent intentions of this monument are somewhat lost in the sculpture's muscled imagery.